


Thanks for Lighting the Candle

by embroidered



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Band, First Time, Friends to Lovers, Frottage, Halloween, M/M, Movie Night, TOPFL Halloween Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2017-10-18
Packaged: 2019-01-18 23:31:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12398499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/embroidered/pseuds/embroidered
Summary: Josh goes over to Tyler's house for their annual Halloween hangout, but Tyler isn't the only one who wants to see him.





	Thanks for Lighting the Candle

Halloween hangouts have been a tradition for three years now. They existed because Tyler never wanted to go to the parties Josh invited him to, but also because Josh didn’t care about missing them. Halloween was overrated, he’d said. Tyler wasn’t sure why he thought so. With Tyler’s family, it was because his mom thought they were inviting Satan into their home. Maybe it was the same with Josh.

“I just don’t like it as much as Christmas,” he said. “I don’t really like...being scared and stuff. The decorations can be cool. Candy and dressing up is okay, but I don’t really care about any of it.”

Tyler cared about Halloween now because it meant he was going to be with his best friend. Just the act of hanging out because they didn’t care about Halloween was an occasion in itself. The pair spent time together almost daily, but this was different. Hanging out in the dark with the curtains closed and the TV brightness on low solely so the trick-or-treaters wouldn’t come knocking on Tyler’s door as often? That’s a whole other thing. It was fun. They felt sneaky. Even they couldn’t escape the Halloween mischief.

Apparently, neither could the people in Josh’s notifications.

“Is everyone on Tinder using like... the ‘punk’ filter for Halloween or what?” Tyler teased.

Josh laughed, embarrassed. He hit the lock button on his phone and placed it face down on the arm of the chair.

“They don’t have a punk filter. I wouldn’t put that in my description anyway.”

He was kidding, but Tyler couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“They probably think you’re extra dangerous. They think all that blue in your hair and those piercings mean you wanna fuck inside a pentagram,” Tyler said, grinning. Josh could see the white shining out of his mouth under the low glow of the television.

Josh laughed despite his growing shyness over the subject. The two of them rarely talked about dates and sexual endeavors. Mostly, it was because Josh was the only one who ever had stories. Tyler hasn’t dated anyone in about a year. Josh kept himself relatively busy and distracted.

“We should’ve got more candy before we left Target,” Josh said, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.

Tyler saw right through him.

“It’s all cheaper tomorrow anyway,” Tyler nodded towards Josh’s phone. “Let’s see who’s trying to get with you tonight.”

Josh’s fingers gripped tight around his phone case.

“O-oh, I don’t ever like… respond to them,” he said nervously.

“You don’t have to respond to anyone. I wanna see who messaged you.”

Tyler scooted closer to him on the couch and motioned for his phone.

“Sure- yeah.”

The light from Josh’s phone illuminated a soft bluish-white on his face; his brightness was down most of the way. Tyler could still see the blush on his face.

Josh had seven messages; four were from today. They were kidding about the whole “dangerous punk boy Halloween fuck” thing, but that seemed like it really was the case. But Tyler knew that these messages were from his matches; Josh was interested in these people at some point. Maybe even today. Tyler felt himself get slightly on edge. He wasn’t really upset, but he couldn’t help but wonder if Josh really might have hooked up with someone tonight instead of coming over.

“These are the only ones from today,” Josh said, tilting his screen towards Tyler’s face.

There were three girls and a guy. Mostly “alternative” type girls, colorful hair and winged eyeliner and all that. They looked like all of the girls Josh ever spent time around. Josh didn’t seem to have a type when it came to girls, but his looks scared most average girls away. He wasn’t exactly the hottest guy on there, but he was way too cool for some of the girls he tried to match with. Tyler knew that for a fact. But the girls were nothing; the guy is what really interested Tyler. He reached over to tap on his message.

_got plans tonight?? you look like you might like a good party_

He wasn’t far off; Josh loved parties. Josh was invited to two this weekend, but he turned them down because he knew Tyler wouldn’t want to go.

“I wanna see what he looks like,” Tyler said, still staring at the screen.

Josh tapped on his profile. 

“I don’t even really remember swiping right on him, but-“

Josh wasn’t the best liar. This guy was pretty average sized. Lean, muscular build, a little more built than Tyler. Messy brown hair. Weird tattoos. Loved music and skating. Played sports sometimes. He was exactly what Tyler would have expected one of his matches to look like. Tyler felt slightly threatened. Any cute guy with a similar description was a threat.

“You think he was gonna try and hook up tonight?” Tyler asked.

“Maybe. I dunno, though. Parties can be anything,” Josh said. “Sometimes they just want someone to like… smoke with.”

“You ever do that?”

Josh made a weird face and put his phone down. The guy’s face was burned into the backs of Tyler’s eyelids.

“Tyler, you know I have.”

Tyler shook his head.

“No, not smoking,” he clarified. “Like, if we weren’t hanging out right now, and you were at a party, would you be looking for someone to hook up with?”

Josh looked at him, confused. They’ve talked about stuff like this before, but Tyler seemed much more concerned about it than he usually was.

“I don’t know. It depends on the day and like.. who’s there. How I feel too, I guess? If there was someone I wanted to hook up with, yeah, I’d probably just do it,” Josh confessed. “But I don’t need to do that.”

“How come?”

“Well,” Josh paused. “Because I’m with you. I don’t need to have sex with random people if I’m with you.”

Tyler blinked. Josh still sat twisted into his confused face. Then his eyes widened.

“Oh! Oh, I wasn’t really trying to say- I meant like...I’d rather be with you, than like, a stranger. Like, hanging out, I mean-“

“When you’re having random hookups like that, do you ever think about that?”

Josh was so confused.

“What do you mean?”

“How you’d rather be with me.”

Tyler’s ability to never miss a beat left Josh’s face red.

“Tyler- I don’t really know, like-“

Tyler shook his head and apologized. He was accusing him of pining.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get so-“

“No!” Josh exclaimed. Tyler rose his eyebrows, and Josh let out a short sigh. “No, really, it’s okay. I just… don’t know how to respond to something like that.”

Tyler told him he was sorry again. Josh waved him off.

They sat close still, Tyler completely in Josh’s space on the couch. There was a gaggle of kids outside the window; Josh could see their silhouettes through the curtains. With much pleading from Josh, Tyler agreed to at least put out a bowl of candy on the porch. Maybe they didn’t care about Halloween, but that didn’t mean the neighbourhood kids were going to stop coming. Low lights and closed curtains were just a preventive measure.

A bit of time passed, and Josh was trying his best to stop thinking about what Tyler said. Tyler was doing no such thing; it was actively turning in his mind.

“I’ve never seen this movie,” Tyler said, stretching his arm around the back of the couch.

“I saw it when I was little, but it’s been a long time.”

Tyler bent the arm he had around the couch back up and propped his head up with his hand. The colors of the film and the hairstyles of the characters proved this movie was from the time of their childhood, but Tyler had no memory of it. Witches were witches and Satan was Satan even if Disney was the one who brought them up.

The pair sat in silence, watching Bette Midler sing a cover of “I Put A Spell On You” with a band of skeletons and two other witches to back her up. Tyler was pretty lost; he’d spent a good part of the beginning of the movie focusing on eating candy and bugging Josh. The movie had recaptured Josh’s attention, though. Tyler shifted his eyes over to look at his face. His eyes were bright and focused, a faint smile on his face as he watched the witches on the television taunting the children in the crowd. Josh could feel Tyler’s eyes on him, and turned to meet his gaze.

And for some reason, Tyler kissed him.

Josh sat stunned for a moment, long enough for Tyler to try and pull off in a panic, but Josh stopped him. Putting a hand on the side of Tyler’s face, he leaned forward and kissed back, soft and warm and sweet. 

A knock at the door made the pair separate in panic. Tyler craned his head to look over at the window, but saw nothing; all of the kids must have been in front of the door. They’d see the bowl eventually. He hoped there was still candy in it.

The hand Josh placed on Tyler’s face fell. He was sitting there, still shaken by the suddenness of it all. Tyler’s face turned back to his. They looked at each other, equally as stunned, equally as unsure of what to do next.

Josh’s gaze fell from Tyler’s eyes to his lips. His eyes flicked back up, as if asking for permission to kiss him again. Tyler’s head tilted and Josh practically lunged forward, grabbing his face with both hands and kissing him with a significant difference in intensity. Tyler’s hands moved to the other’s neck and shoulder, rubbing his thumb into his skin.

Heat glowed on the skin of Josh’s face and neck, warming Tyler’s hands as he held him. The softness of his lips, the sweetness of the sugar still left on his tongue, the gentleness of his hands: all of these were things Tyler had fully underestimated. It wasn’t the same for Josh. Josh had been thinking about this, contemplating plans to make a move on Tyler, for the past three years. He always had plans, but it never felt like the right time. He didn’t want to scare him off. He should have made a move sooner.

Turning his body fully towards him, Tyler eased Josh onto his back, knocking his phone off of the armrest and onto the carpet. Josh felt a split second of panic before realizing he had more important things to give his attention to. Fingers threaded themselves in Tyler’s hair as he moved his head over, laying kisses along Josh’s jaw. A small gasp sounded through Josh’s parted lips as Tyler started to kiss his neck, the muscles underneath taut and the skin warm and sensitive.

Their position was odd but comfortable. Tyler had to sit in Josh’s lap to get him to lie back and just decided to stay there. The attention to their setup caused Josh to wonder what it looked like from the side. The image that popped into his head made him snort involuntarily. 

Tyler pulled up from Josh’s neck to look at him, confused, as he brought the back of his hand up to his mouth to muffle his laughter.

“I’m sorry!” Josh said between giggles.

“What’s so funny?”

Tyler sounded a bit hurt, insecure about whatever it is he might have done. Josh waved a hand in front of his face and turned away as he gave up, cackling into the cushions of the couch.

“It’s not- I was just thinking-“ he could hardly get his words out, but couldn’t let Tyler think he did something wrong. “I just was thinking about what we looked like from the side! Because my- my legs are just laying straight on the couch and you’re like- you’re like hunched over my neck like a vampire! Just like- sucking on my neck!”

There were tears pricking at the corner of his eyes; he was cracking himself up without any help from Tyler.

“Don’t lay there like you’re dead then,” Tyler said, a smile breaking the concern on his face.

“I won’t, I won’t!”

Tyler didn’t know why he expected anything actually serious from this. Maybe he was feeling a bit vulnerable, but this was probably the most typical situation they could have found themselves in. He looked on at Josh as he tried to calm himself, laughter still shaking in his chest, hair messed up even more than before from the thrashing on the cushions, and eyes bright and wet with tears. Tyler swooped down and kissed him on the mouth again, taking short breaks for grins and giggles.

Neither of them ever should have waited this long to make a move.

“Hey,” Josh said, giving Tyler space to pull off for a moment. “Not to be weird and ruin the moment or anything, but I’ve been waiting to do this for like… a long time.”

Why that would be the thing to ruin the moment, Tyler was unsure.

“How long are we talking?” he asked.

“I don’t really know… since I got to know you, I guess,” Josh’s voice fell into a near whisper. “A long time. What about you?”

There really wasn’t a real answer for that. Tyler really had no idea when he started to become interested in Josh. It was safe to assume it sprouted from jealousy, but trying to pinpoint exactly which time he got jealous for different reasons was hard. Tyler had always been a little jealous of anyone who got close with him.

“Not as long. Maybe last year?”

“That’s long enough.”

“We gotta make up for lost time then, huh?”

Josh grinned. Tyler grinned back.

“Guess so.”

Neither of them were really sure how far things were going to go in one night. Sure, it was the first time they’d done anything more than playful kisses on the cheek or top of the head, but that didn’t mean much. Josh was relatively comfortable with “sex on the first date”, if you could even really call it that. Tyler wasn’t afraid of it, but he’d never done it. In general, they were comfortable with each other and knew without saying that this was more than just a meaningless hookup. It wasn’t going to end after tonight. Their first real kiss was just the hurdle they’d been eyeing for years; all the obstacles now felt like nothing.

Hands were all over now; they snuck up Josh’s shirt and roamed along his waist, his chest, his sides. Josh pushed his thigh up between Tyler’s legs. He ground down, and Josh moaned softly at the feeling of Tyler giving full contact so easily. Tyler rose up to kiss Josh on the mouth again, playing with their tongues and leaving their lips wet and swollen.

Tyler’s hand moved down to palm at Josh through his jeans. Josh hummed quietly into the kiss he was giving Tyler on his throat, sending strange vibrations through his lips. They spent a few minutes like this, touching each other through two layers of fabric as Josh kissed all up and down Tyler’s face, until they were too hard for comfort.

“We gotta get these off,” Tyler mumbled against his new lover’s lips, tugging at the waist of his jeans.

Josh couldn’t help but agree. They worked each other out of their pants and shirts and felt immensely freer. The skin-to-skin contact of their chests and legs and the soft, loose fabric of their boxer briefs were much less restrictive. Soft moans sounded between kisses as the two spent time grinding against each other’s hips. 

As Tyler finally slipped his hand beneath the waistband of Josh’s underwear, there was a knock on the door. Josh’s gasp broke their kiss, and he slid down onto the couch so that his head would be concealed by the armrest.

“Can they see us?” Josh asked in a panicked whisper.

Tyler craned his neck to peek over the top of the couch, both at the door and the window. There were no shadows outside of the window, so there were probably only a few people standing in front of the door. There definitely wasn’t any candy left in the bowl. They were asking for a refill, but that was just too bad.

Tyler wrapped his hand around Josh’s cock and tugged, coaxing a strained moan from his throat. Josh caught the end by pulling his lips between his teeth.

“They can’t see us.”

“Are you sure?”

“I think so,” Tyler said. “But we can move over to my room if you’re really that scared.”

Josh’s breath caught in his throat. For some reason, bringing it to the bedroom made it all too real. Tyler knew this, but he decided to suggest it anyway.

“Little more serious than humping on the couch, huh,” Tyler said softly.

“Little bit,” Josh smiled at him, still. “But I don’t know if I can really make it all the way in there. I’m not used to all this kissing.”

“Oh, the kissing’s got you excited, huh?” Tyler teased.

“Speak for yourself, dude! I know you’ve never touched anyone else’s dick besides your own ‘til right now.”

A smile pulled at Tyler’s lips.

“You aren’t wrong. It’s okay though. We’d probably kiss once and it’d be over.”

Josh giggled and pulled Tyler down for the umpteenth time that night, lips and tongues eager to start up again. It seemed the trick-or-treaters had left the porch, so Tyler began moving his hand again, this time pulling himself out to join.

Josh couldn’t help but try and get a peek, but Tyler obstructed his view with another kiss to the neck. A humming noise filtered through Josh’s lips as he tilted his hips to continue their grinding. Tyler’s hand was awkward, but he didn’t have much room or experience in it. Josh was too head over heels to care.

Their breathing got heavier, their movements more frantic. Soon they were lying on the couch, foreheads pressed together, desperately rutting against one another in Tyler’s hand.

“Tyler, I-“

Josh didn’t know how to finish, and Tyler didn’t know how to respond with anything other than another press of his mouth. Their kisses were loud, breaths harsh and lips wet. Tyler began to make sounds akin to whines, his brow furrowing even deeper against Josh’s. He started to say something, but was stopped short by a moan that sounded as he came without warning. Josh’s breath hitched as he felt Tyler pulsate and slick the skin of his hand and Josh’s cock.

“Oh- shit…” Tyler breathed.

Josh threaded his fingers in Tyler’s hair, petting as his head laid on his shoulder.

“You need…you still need to cum,” Tyler said, breathing all but effortless.

“Just… touch me and kiss my neck. I got it.”

Tyler positioned himself so that he was laying on his side along Josh’s body, forcing one of Josh’s feet to plant itself on the carpet. Tyler tangled one of his legs with the one Josh had bent on the couch. His hand smoothed across Josh’s chest and his mouth worked eagerly at his neck. Josh moved his hand the way he knew best. Tyler would open his eyes to take whatever notes he could on occasion; who knew the next chance he’d have to see this.

After a few moments, he finally came, moans vibrating the lips on his throat. His moans soon evolved into breathless laughter.

“What’s so funny now?” Tyler asked, lips in the hair above Josh’s ear.

“Nothing,” Josh said, big grin subsiding to a smaller, but just as bright smile. “I’m just happy. I’m so relieved! I just- I’m so happy!”

He pulled Tyler down into a warm, sticky, rather gross hug, but Tyler returned the embrace all the same.

“Guess you don’t need Tinder anymore, huh?” Tyler mumbled into his neck.

Josh’s head wiggled its way up to rest his chin against whatever part of Tyler’s head was in front of him.

“You still hung up on that?”

“I’m just teasing you. But also, you should delete it.”

Josh snorted and patted the back of Tyler’s head.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

Tyler lifted himself off of the couch, grabbed their clothes off of the floor, and offered Josh a hand. Josh took it, but only after giving himself a moment to check Tyler out.

“What? Never seen me naked before?” Tyler asked, stupid grin plastered on his face.

Josh clapped his hand in Tyler’s and got off of the couch with a grunt.

“No, actually. Not ‘til you took your pants off.”

“How come I’ve seen you naked then?”

Josh made a face.

“I don’t know. When was that?”

Tyler shrugged.

“One time you decided to free-ball for whatever reason and you changed into your pajamas. I just didn’t look away,” he tossed Josh a pair of underwear. He didn’t look to see whose they were, but it didn’t really matter. Josh slipped them on right away.

“I didn’t even notice,” Josh said, a hint of laughter in his voice. “If I saw you like that there’s no way I’d be able to hide it.”

“That’s because I’ve got a huge dick.”

Josh laughed heart-breakingly loud. Tyler was obviously joking, but the noise still stung a little.

“It’s not that funny.”

Josh rolled his eyes and smiled. Tyler always had to make it more dramatic than it really was.

“It’s just the way you said it. I don’t agree or disagree; gotta see more.”

Tyler laughed and gave Josh a pat to the arm before turning to walk away.

“I’m gonna get like… wipes and stuff. Be right back.”

Josh watched Tyler walk down the hall and nearly collapsed when he was officially out of the room. Flopping down onto the arm of the couch, Josh sat in disbelief. All those years of feeling guilty about wanting to fuck his best friend were all in vain. They probably could have been together for about three years by now. Even if it was just whenever Tyler started liking him, they could be way past the humping on the couch stage by now. Real fucking. Comfortable, casual lovemaking. Actual deep, romantic love. Josh’s heart could explode with the mere thought of it. 

The most confusing thing about all of this was time. It was a good call to decline Tyler’s invitation to his bedroom; Josh probably would have cried, overwhelmed and embarrassingly excited. But really, how much longer of a wait was necessary? They weren’t exactly taking it slow already. They got each other off within the same hour of their first kiss. And what if this really was just a weird hook up for Tyler? Josh knew that was an unfair question to ask himself. Tyler made the first move. He’d said they needed to make up for lost time. He knew it was more than just a casual fuck, but he couldn’t help but worry that it was.

Tyler coming over to wipe the remnants of cum from Josh’s skin, punctuating it with a soft kiss to the forehead, was enough to put a pause on his fears. He was back in some sweats and a hoodie, new clothes for Josh tucked beneath his arm.

“You going home later?” Tyler asked, handing over one of his bigger shirts and a pair of black joggers.

Josh slipped the shirt on over his head. The fit was close; only a little snug around the chest. He could just put his old shirt back on, but that was no fun.

“If you want me to, I can.” 

Josh sat back down on the couch. Tyler moved in right next to him. 

“I was kinda planning on staying here anyway, but I can go.”

“Hmm, nope,” Tyler practically smothered Josh, wrapping his arms around him in a tight embrace. This put Josh in a fit of giggles, muffled by the shoulder Tyler had shoved in his face.

“You’re mine tonight. You’re stuck here! There’s no way out!” 

Tyler’s voice was theatrical and fake-menacing as can be, but the two couldn’t wipe the grins off of their faces.

“Oh no! Please, no!” Josh’s cries were more than unconvincing, but he played along. That’s all that mattered.

Tyler went to continue his impromptu drama, but was cut off by another knock at the door. Groaning loudly, Tyler let his head drop down on the arm of the couch. Josh slithered out from under him.

“We should probably refill the bowl.”

“There’s so many other houses in this neighbourhood! This isn’t even a good one to trick-or-treat in! It’s college students and bums and moms. We don’t have any money!”

“They want your candy, not your money,” Josh pushed Tyler’s body away from him, and Tyler sat on the middle cushion with a pout. He tried to complain about using his money to buy the candy, but Josh wasn’t having it. “Where’d you put the bag?”

“On the table by the door.”

Josh called for the kids to hold on, rushed up to the door and ripped open the bag, the sound of feet behind the door starting an excited murmur from outside. When the door opened up to a chorus of small witches, wizards, and Spider-men screaming their trick-or-treats, Tyler got up and made his way over to a drawer in the spare room. He grabbed a piece of plain white computer paper and a chisel-tip Sharpie, wrote his message, and went back into the living room.

As he re-entered, Josh had just said his last goodbyes to the children outside Tyler’s door. Tyler sped up behind him and stopped him from closing the door, slipping his note behind the bowl.

BEWARE: Once it’s gone, it’s gone! Please don’t come knocking. Thanks

Signed with a crappy doodle of a ghost and a heart.

It would have been a more useful sign, had there actually been things in the bowl. Now it was just a note telling everyone to get off of his porch.

“Did you just give those kids that whole bag of candy?” Tyler asked.

Josh closed the door and turned around to look him in the face. He didn’t see anything wrong with that.

“Yeah, why?”

“How many kids were there?”

“Like four?”

He didn’t know why he expected anything else. It wouldn’t have been surprising if the only one at the door was a baby; Josh still would have dumped the whole thing in its bucket.

“You know there was like 50 pieces- you know what? It doesn’t matter. Come on, I wanna watch a movie.”

Josh happily followed.

“We should watch _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_.”

Tyler snorted and flopped on the couch with Josh on the opposite end, legs lying across each other.

“Don’t you think we should at least do like… _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ before the Grinch? That’s at least a little Halloweenie. Best of both worlds.”

Josh smiled and shrugged.

“We can wait ‘til midnight for the Grinch.”

**Author's Note:**

> frottage? in MY fic? [otgw greg voice] ain't that just the way...
> 
> i just really wanted to get something up for halloween before it was too late. thanks for sticking around time and time again! just having anyone read this warms my heart


End file.
